This is how to use the calories: make them into a wreath and hang them on the door!
Pearl One
I’m often asked, “do you stick to smart eating even on vacation (I do), but trips aren’t the only exciting part of our lives. There are many days in the year that can trip us up.
The holiday season can be a bear for lots of us just as much as a vacay. Temptation is everywhere.
Christmas is a particularly tricky month because, unlike Thanksgiving, Christmas-eating goes on all through December.
We need a December playbook.
That is, if you plan to sail into January feeling at the top of your game.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about an elaborate plan of what you will or won’t eat three Thursdays from now.
No, I mean that every single morning, we draw up a fresh, new plan. If you’re like me you’re thinking, “I have enough to do, I don’t need more, but thanks so much.”
Okay, fair enough.
Slight detour: if your plan is to preserve (maintain) your current weight throughout December, it’s essential that you tell yourself that weight-preservation only happens when we call preserving a part-time job.
Back to our regularly scheduled program.
So, the first thing to do is eagle-eye points in your day that could easily cause trouble. Looking in advance for problem areas in the day means that we can plan smart solutions right at that moment before the problem even begins.
Here’s my plan for tomorrow (normally I’d write up this plan On Saturday morning).
Morning Plan for Saturday: My husband, sons, and I go out one night every December to see the lights and then eat out (usually a high-end pizza dining spot.)
The Potential Problem: Eating pizza won’t help me to preserve my weight or continue embedding my new habits.
My Best Shot: In the old days, I’d be totally triggered to chow slice after slice of pizza with my family culminating in dessert at home (because I’d already “blown-it”). My plan now is to eat well throughout the day; then when we’re looking at the lights (in the car), I’ll eat the apple that I sliced up earlier. If the apple doesn’t take the edge of my appetite, I’ll eat a small yogurt too.
Because I’d foreseen the difficulty in advance, I know to bring my cold-tote with me packed with sliced apple (don’t just grab a whole one, make eating smart easy) and a small yogurt + spoon.
Later, when we sit down to dinner, guess how hungry I am?
Exactly.
The whole idea is that when you order, you decide whether to have two pieces of pizza, or a fancy salad and not your cavewoman.
You guys, eating before you eat + morning planning is the superpower you’ve been looking for to survive December. ♥
Pearl Two
This post partly appeared in a very old post.
Back in the day when food was my entertainment, I’d tell myself, “I’m SO BORED” and with that, I’d raid the kitchen for some “deserved” nothing-to-do-eating.
Today I deal with boredom differently, here’s what I finally figured out:
The feeling of boredom was never meant to signal us to locate and eat handfuls of M&M’s. Feeling bored is a challenge from the best part of ourselves to bring new exciting plans and ideas to life.
And excitement is different for everyone. You might be excited to travel like seeing the castles in Europe, while I want to fulfill a lifelong dream to learn Spanish. A friend might want to hike every waterfall in her state. Someone else is ready to adopt a rescue-dog.
Before I go any further, I have to add an important caveat: I’m not suggesting that if we simply embrace a new passion that the extra pounds will melt off.
But what I am saying is that when you coax your own dream-projects to life you’re establishing a better relationship internally — and feeling good about ourselves is part of a forever weight-loss.
Pearl Three
In Pearl Three we do a deep-dive on James Clear’s book Atomic Habits
James Clear tells us “You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
I think Clear is telling us that the future takes care of itself, that our work is in the now, the today, this evening and so forth.
I’ll never stop saying embed the habit, and the scale will follow. (But for December put yourself in preservation-mode). ♥
Pearl Four
Book-Desserts!
Do I have a winner for you today. As I was reading I continually thought, “how do I explain why this book is so good?”
The plot is about a senior citizen nursing home in the Netherlands.
If you loved A Man Called Ove: A Novel, the 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared, and Eleanor Elephant is completely Fine then this is your book.
The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen by Hendrik Groen is character-driven and hilarious. The voice of the diarist is cozy and comfy. As his diary unfolds, our guy highlights the various people and funny stories.
I loved it and was sad to see it end, but thankfully the author has written other books. My review: 100 stars, The book makes a good gift for a reader because there are no awful Nazi stories within, and animals don’t get hurt. ♥
Pearl Five
While overeating would be seen by some as an indulgence of self, it is in a fact a profound rejection of self. It is a moment of self-betrayal and self-punishment, and anything but a commitment to one’s own well-being. ♥
Marianne Williamson
Some interesting news: I finally have the book, The Inspired Eater: Fed Up! live on Amazon and I’d love it if you’d take a take a look. A review would be wonderful too.
Have a beautiful weekend!
♥, Wendy
P.S. Are you new to the Inspired Eater? Welcome!! This blog won’t make much sense until you first read the Aunt Bea post (and you’ll find Aunt Bea on this page to the right under my short bio). On your cell you’ll see it immediately following the first post. After you enter your email address, the Aunt Bea article will be sent to your email’s inbox. If it’s not there, you might check the spam folder. And always feel free to email me at Wendy@TheInspiredEater.com and I’ll get Aunt Bea right to you!
You know the scoop: I’m an Amazon affiliate. If you buy from a link in my post, I’ll receive money, but the arrangement won’t cost you a dime.
I am not an expert, a doctor, a surgeon, a nurse or a nutritionist: the information within TheInspiredEater.com is based solely on my personal experience and is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. ♥
